Blackjack Double Deck Strategy

Blackjack Double Deck Strategy 3,6/5 1630 votes

Introduction

To use the basic strategy, look up your hand along the left vertical edge and the dealer's up card along the top. In both cases an A stands for ace. From top to bottom are the hard totals, soft totals, and splittable hands. There are two charts depending on whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17.

Other basic strategy rules.

Never take insurance or 'even money.'
If there is no row for splitting (fives and tens), then look up your hand as a hard total (10 or 20).
If you can't split because of a limit on re-splitting, then look up your hand as a hard total, except aces. In the extremely unlikely event you have a pair of aces you can't re-split and drawing to split aces is allowed, then double against a 6, otherwise hit.

Double deck blackjack basic strategy chart from Blackjack Review. Fine points include whether the dealer hits soft-17 and allows double after splits. Correct strategy also changes when more decks are added to the shoe. For instance, you’ll find a basic strategy chart for a single deck, a double deck, and for four or more decks at a time. The more cards are in the deck, the less useful your ability to keep track of the cards already dealt or keeping a card count of some kind. EXAMPLES OF HOW TO USE THE BLACKJACK BASIC STRATEGY. Single-deck game with hard 17, you hold 16, dealer’s upcard is a 10. You should surrender. Double-deck game with soft 17, you hold 15, dealer’s upcard is an ace. You should hit (surrender only against dealer’s 10). Six-deck game with soft 17, you hold 16, dealer’s upcard is a 9.

With better odds, Double Deck Blackjack should be everyone’s go-to blackjack variant. The goal of Double Deck Blackjack is the same as any blackjack game: Get a higher score than the dealer without exceeding 21. How to Play Blackjack. At the start of every round, you and the dealer are dealt two cards each.

If you play a mixture of six-deck games, some where the dealer hits a soft 17, and some where he stands, and you only wish to memorize one strategy, I would recommend you memorize the one where the dealer stands on soft 17. The cost in errors due to playing the wrong strategy is 2.3 times higher playing a stand on soft 17 game, with the hit on 17 strategy, than vise versa.

Basic Strategy in Text

For the benefit of my blind readers, here is the above strategy in text form, when the dealer stands on soft 17 and surrender is allowed. To use the strategy, start at the top, and follow the first rule that applies.

Surrender

Surrender hard 16 (but not a pair of 8s) vs. dealer 9, 10, or A, and hard 15 vs. dealer 10.

Split

Always split aces and 8s.
Never split 5s and 10s.
Split 2s and 3s against a dealer 4-7, and against a 2 or 3 if DAS is allowed.
Split 4s only if DAS is allowed and the dealer shows a 5 or 6.
Split 6s against a dealer 3-6, and against a 2 if DAS is allowed.
Split 7s against a dealer 2-7.
Split 9s against a dealer 2-6 or 8-9.

Double

Double hard 9 vs. dealer 3-6.
Double hard 10 except against a dealer 10 or A.
Double hard 11 except against a dealer A.
Double soft 13 or 14 vs. dealer 5-6.
Double soft 15 or 16 vs. dealer 4-6.
Double soft 17 or 18 vs. dealer 3-6.

Hit or Stand

Always hit hard 11 or less.
Stand on hard 12 against a dealer 4-6, otherwise hit.
Stand on hard 13-16 against a dealer 2-6, otherwise hit.
Always stand on hard 17 or more.
Always hit soft 17 or less.
Stand on soft 18 except hit against a dealer 9, 10, or A.
Always stand on soft 19 or more.

As I've said many times, the above strategy will be fine under any set of rules. However, for you perfectionists out there, here are the modifications to make if the dealer hits a soft 17.

Surrender 15, a pair of 8s, and 17 vs. dealer A.
Double 11 vs. dealer A.
Double soft 18 vs. dealer 2.
Double soft 19 vs. dealer 6.

My thanks to Kelly for putting together the above text strategy.

Written by:Michael Shackleford

Appendices
Miscellaneous
External Links

Introduction

Other basic strategy rules.

Never take insurance or 'even money.'
If there is no row for splitting (fives and tens), then look up your hand as a hard total (10 or 20).
If you can't split because of a limit on re-splitting, then look up your hand as a hard total, except aces. In the extremely unlikely event you have a pair of aces you can't re-split and drawing to split aces is allowed, then double against a 5 or 6, otherwise hit.

Ideally, the basic strategy shows the play which, on average, will result in the greatest win or the least loss per initial hand played. The way I usually go about this is to look at the initial 2-card hands only. Generally, this will result in the overall best play. However, soft 18 against a dealer ace when the dealer stands on soft 17 provides the only known exception that I am aware of for any number of decks. As my blackjack appendix 9 shows, a 2-card soft 18 vs A has an expected value of hitting of -0.100359, and of standing -0.100502. So with two cards it is very slightly better to hit. However, not all soft 18's are composed of two cards. The more the cards in the player's hand the more the odds favor standing. Simulations show that if forced to always hit or always stand, it is better to stand. I would like to thank Don Schlesinger for bringing this unusual play to my attention.